SOCOM 3: U.S. Navy SEALs

SOCOM is my kinda game, I live for competition and I love video games (kinda lucky I'm a reviewer). That being said I just completed another long set of online play and quite frankly I'm still a bit juiced on adrenaline. It's almost midnight and I'm finally writing this review. I wanted to get it in sooner but with something as revered as the finest online gaming available on the PS2 takes some time, effort and genuine thought.

As it is the third game in the series, Sony and Zipper Interactive have made much larger leaps forward in the series with the addition of vehicles and additional multiplayer capabilities. But I digress, lets start with the single-player game and then work into the online play.

"Frank! You're supposed to put a flag up when the skier falls!"

Did you know the SOCOM games actually have a single-player game? Most people don't because it's hard to not get caught up in the multiplayer mode but yup, there it is, so let's talk about it. In all of the SOCOM games you play a Navy S.E.A.L. who runs a team of four highly trained military specialists. You are dispatched to all sorts of hot spots around the world where you must achieve one or more objective. One mission might have you rescuing hostages where another may be a "snatch and grab" of enemy officers. The missions aren't the typical missions that you would think and the developers do a fairly decent job of mixing it up. Since you have your team to command, you can either choose to use the headset (provided you have one) and issue voice commands to your team, or use the quick menu interface. To be perfectly honest with you, I have the headset, and there's just something so right about playing a military game where you are conducting clandestine military maneuvers in foreign lands while wearing a headset. It really draws you into the whole experience and I really recommend getting one.

Problem is ...  that your S.E.A.L. team doesn't always listen or react the way you would want them to. In other words, the A.I. featured in this game is hit-and-miss. You could be in a close-combat situation running form house to house, and just as the fireworks start, one of your team jumps in front of you and you end up killing him. It happened to me on more then one deployment and I feel it bears mentioning. The A.I. of the enemy can be just as frustrating with inability to kill you with their crappy shooting ability. Not that I want to be killed instantly during combat, but a little more difficulty would have been nicer.

"The latest in anti-car theft technology."

Both the single-player and the multiplayer modes now feature vehicles. Hummers, helicopters, boats - it's all here and ready for use. And for good reason, these new levels and missions are absolutely gigantic. Zipper says that some of the levels are five times larger than in previous games. Whatever the size differential, there is decidedly something very slick about running a gunboat up and down the river with a buddy shooting the deck-mounted machinegun. My professional advice is to take cover when you hear that blistering pace of the gunfire. The same scenario can be said about the Hummer's with mounted guns, run like the wind and pray they see your buddy first. Of course, with the addition of vehicles, the weapons also get a shot in the arm as well. With more powerful arms like the rocket launcher, and more modern weapons, the loadout screen practically begs you to try any one of the dozens of different armaments. In fact, not only do you choose a handgun, a primary weapon and your choice of handgrenade/smoke bomb/flashbangs, etc. But you can choose to put accessories on them as well. To give you an example, I usually choose the M60 (a big machinegun with lots of bullets). I can choose to add a bi-pod onto the M60 and when I hole up somewhere and lay on the ground, my accuracy is improved. I also like to put a laser sight on my handgun, simply because it's cool. But it too, can benefit the user when engaged in combat at night. The point I am ultimately trying to make is, not only is there a whole new selection of weapons to use, but you can augment them, and ultimately find yourself choosing from 1,000s of load-out possibilities. Whew.

Something else that is worth noting, when you run around, the game does a fine job of keeping in real-world physics, as a person would not be that accurate shooting a gun while running and jumping around.

"Say allo' to mah leetle friend!"

Where these SOCOM games really sell themselves is the online play. And SOCOM 3 does not disappoint, but first, I must complain about the registration process. It is more complicated then it has to be and the introduction of registering a credit card (even though you are not charged) makes me that much more disappointed that there are people out there who have nothing better to do then make others miserable by creating fake characters. But when push comes to shove there is no better online game for the PS2 then SOCOM 3. Now up to 32 people can play online in massive 16-on-16 battles. There are 12 huge multiplayer maps and tons of options including respawn and game selection (convoy, deathmatch - yes I know that's not what it's called in the game but many people won't understand "suppression" - and escort, etc.) and tons of other cool stuff.  But, I was experiencing some pretty noticeable lag when I was in a medium-sized game and that is pretty disappointing, but totally expected. However, it only slightly diminishes the online experience, which is still pretty rock-solid.

Something I couldn't help but notice was that the game doesn't have the kind of graphics jump I had hoped for. I know the PS2 is at the threshold of it's graphical capabilities but I was mildly disappointed and in fact, there were a couple of levels that I thought were too muddy looking and too bleh to jump up and down about. But then, there are some levels that look really slick as well, and I love the night-vision combat, that was impressive to experience. The gun portraits and the weapon/soldier loadout screen was easy to look at, but boy I still have headaches from the writing that is necessary. It's too blurry and small, and I'm playing on a large HD TV. Just poor execution in what should be a clear and easy to decipher part of the game.

You want to talk about some booms, I liked the fact that you can distinguish between the different types of arms fire. And when you toss a grenade or blow up a location, the sound comes through nice and crisp. The preloaded military phrases said in both combat and in game dialogue sound like they are being spoken by a military man, and I would know - my father was a 25-year military man. Vehicles whirrr and make the right sounds as they bounce around. What I am getting at is the game sounds good.
 

Gameplay: 8.5
If you have played a SOCOM game in the past, not much has changed, it's a tightly controlled game. The vehicles will take a little practice but you will get a handle on it right quick.  

Graphics: 8.2
For everything nice, there is something that isn't. One level looks great and then another doesn't. I dig the night vision and you can zoom in and snipe others from great distances.

Sound: 8.5
A good home theatre will enjoy the workout that this title can put it through.

Difficulty: Medium
The single-player game's difficulty is hit-and-miss. The online game could be real easy or real tough depending on which room you choose to enter.

Concept: 8.0
Nice to see the more radical changes in the game as opposed to SOCOM 2's. Bigger (newer) maps, vehicles, weapons.

Multiplayer: 9.1
I think I said it twice in this review, the SOCOM titles are the best online games for the PS2 and this one keeps up the tradition.

Overall: 8.6
There are a couple of bumps in the road, but it still is a hoot to play. The single player game has some clever storytelling going on and I love the online games. You would do well to pick up this title if you are a fan of military games or action games.